


A heart soft for cats (and cute boys)

by crystalklances



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, bad boy keith, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:58:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9532490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalklances/pseuds/crystalklances
Summary: Lance runs into Keith while helping a stray cat in the rain. He ends up tagging along to his place and they sort of adopt the cat together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I just love the "bad boy gets soft around kittens" trope especially combined with rescuing it from the rain and it fits Keith so well. Feauturing Lance, of course.

Lance has always been watching Keith from afar.

Keith was a total bad boy, delinquent type of guy known for his attitude issues and various rumors surrounding him. For these reasons, Lance never dared approach him, no matter how curious he was to find out what he _truly_ was like and wanted to get to know him. That didn’t stop him from having a massive crush on him, though. He just always did all these _cool_ things, and it sure didn’t help that he looked smoking hot with that bad boy look and various piercings of his.

One rainy afternoon, Lance would stumble into something that would change everything Lance knew and was used to.

He was on the way home from work, taking a longer route because he loved walking in the rain. He had an umbrella but didn’t use it because it wasn’t that bad and again, he really enjoyed walking in the rain. He was whistling a little tune but stopped the moment his ears registered a soft mewling sound from a side alley ahead. He knew that there were stray cats around; he often looked out for them when he was around because it was as close as he could get to having a pet. He quickly ran up to where the sound came from.

What he saw next surprised him.

A figure was kneeling in the alley next to a stray kitten, carefully trying to coax the animal to come into his arms. It was a very familiar figure. When the guy spoke, that’s when Lance realized.

“Come on little guy, get in my jacket, I’ll bring you home to a dry and safe place.”

It was Keith. Who would have thought that he had a heart of gold to rescue stray cats like that?

Lance smiled and walked the remaining distance, opening his umbrella at the same time. “Do you need help?” he asked, holding the umbrella above Keith.

Keith looked up and stared at him intensely for a moment, making Lance shiver (and not from the cold and wetness from the rain). Finally, he nodded, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. “Thanks.” The kitten was finally settled in Keith’s jacket, and Keith stood, careful of the bundle cradled in his arms. “I’m Keith, by the way,” he said.

Lance wanted to say “I know,” but thought better of it. Instead, he smiled and said: “The name’s Lance!”

The cat was still mewling softly, and Lance reached out with his free hand to pet it gently. “Don’t worry sweetie, soon you can dry off and have some food,” he crooned. The cat purred softly at his touch. He looked back up at Keith to ask: “Where are we taking the little one?”

“My place,” Keith said. “I always have some cat food at home just in case.”

Lance tried to will down racing heartbeat. _This is just for helping out with rescuing a cat, this is no time for being gay and pining_ , he told himself, _there’s no romantic intent here._

“I didn’t think a delinquent like you would have such a soft heart,” Lance joked.

“I don’t,” Keith said. “Except for cats and cute boys.”

Lance didn’t miss the flirty undertone and tried not to die on the spot. The rain had started to be heavier, so there wasn’t really a chance for conversation or even just for Lance to reply.

They eventually made it to Keith’s place and got inside with some difficulty. Lance left his umbrella by the door when they took off their shoes and followed Keith inside to the living area.

 

“Can you get some towels for me?” Keith asked. “The bathroom is at the end of the hall.”

 

“Sure,” Lance replied before doing as he was told.

Because he wasn’t really sure how many towels Keith wanted, Lance just grabbed several from the messy pile he found shoved on a shelf (fighting back the urge to fold them neatly). When he came back to the living room, he found Keith by the sofa, still holding the cat wrapped in his jacket.

“Here, give me the cat,” Lance said, putting the towels on the backrest of the sofa and holding his arms out. “You should go dry off and get changed, you’ll end up catching a cold.”

Keith blinked at him, slowly, but handed the cat—without the jacket now—over to Lance who immediately went about wrapping the animal in one of the towels to dry it off while Keith left.

Lance was so caught up in taking care of the cat that he didn’t notice Keith return until he spoke. “Shouldn’t you dry off too?”

Lance turned to look at him and nearly had a heart attack. Keith was standing there in the doorway, shirtless, just in boxers, and rubbing his hair with a towel. It took all of Lance’s energy not to stare. He couldn’t avoid his face heating up, though.

“What? Oh, no, I’m—I’m fine,” he stuttered.

“Come on, I can give you one of my shirts, and you can stay till your stuff is dry. And like, we can order pizza or something while we watch over the little guy,” Keith said. His tone was so insistent that Lance finally walked over and followed Keith back to the bathroom. Keith handed him a simple red t-shirt. “Here—I’ll take the little guy again and wait in the living room.”

Lance handed the cat over again and once Keith had left, undressed with a sigh. He put his clothes to dry near the radiator and put on the shirt Keith had handed him. It smelled of generic detergent, but that didn’t stop Lance from inhaling the scent and blushing as he was pulling the shirt over his head. _Because he was wearing one of Keith’s shirts_. Unbelievable, this turn of events.

He returned to the living room and was glad that Keith, now seated on the sofa, had finally put on a shirt again too. They both were just in boxers otherwise, but at least there was that. Lance had no idea if he would survive otherwise, Keith’s half-naked, toned body right next to him in plain sight. He sat down next to Keith and watched as Keith gently petted the purring little ball of fur.

Keith looked up and smiled at him. There was something in his gaze Lance couldn’t quite read or didn’t want to read too much into, he couldn’t tell the difference.

Keith asked: “So what would you like to order?”

“Pizza sounds fine,” Lance replied. “Any type of pizza you like, I’m not picky.”

“Great.” Keith was still smiling as he took out his phone and presumably ordered the pizza online. Lance realized that neither of them mentioned about who pays. Lance would have to ask later.

They sat in silence for a while. Finally, Lance asked: “So what are you gonna do with the little one?”

Keith didn’t even think before replying: “I’m gonna keep it.”

“You’re lucky I can’t argue with you over it because I’m not allowed to have any pets where I live,” Lance said. He was joking, mostly; though he did wish he could have a cat.

“Well, then you’ll just have to come visit me all the time, and we can raise it together,” Keith said, looking Lance straight in the eyes.

Again, Lance couldn’t ignore the flirty undertone.

He was blushing and trying to come up with anything to say other than incoherent stuttering. “I—I guess, yeah, that sounds cool,” he managed to get out.

Keith just continued to gaze at him with a fond half-smile on his face, and Lance just about died.

This close up, Lance was able to see the details of his piercings. He had always thought they were all black, but some were red. Why he was so fascinated with that, he didn’t know. Probably because he kind of had a thing for the “bad boy” type. And now he was sitting here, on Keith’s sofa, because they had both wanted to help a stray cat out in the rain, and he learned that Keith had a really soft side. And might be a nerd, judging by the Zelda-themed shirt he was wearing.

And then there was the fact that Keith was _flirting with Lance_. Not that he was complaining, after all, he was kind of pining after Keith already. He just didn’t expect this to happen, especially like this.

They ended up talking about this and that while waiting for the pizza to arrive. Lance learned that Keith definitely was a nerd. They bonded over games they liked, and shows and books and movies. At some point, the cat (they still had to give it a name) had left them to have some food (Lance guessed Keith must have prepared the bowl while Lance was in the bathroom).

When the door finally rang, Keith stood to answer it, still in nothing but that shirt and his red boxers. Lance wondered if he didn’t feel embarrassed at all. They ate, still talking the whole time and laughing as they watched the cat patter around the room to explore every corner of its new home.

In the end, Lance stayed a lot longer than planned. Before he left, Keith gave him his number and told him he was looking forward to seeing him again. Lance was looking forward to it, too. Both because of the cat and because he might have scored himself a future boyfriend.


End file.
